Frrom the iNRRTS Office

‘Saturday Night Live’ Recently Celebrated Its 50th Anniversary

Written by: Jason Kelln, ATP, CRTS®

In the lead-up to the “Saturday Night Live” 50th Anniversary show, there were several documentaries. One looked at the five-minute auditions of people over the years. A resounding message from the stars was, “How did I ever get the job?”

One thing that was consistent was that Lorne Michaels and the casting personnel all saw something. It was not always visible in the audition, but there was something deep down that came through to the people making the choice. What is the magic secret for what they saw?

When I was in high school and university, no one mentioned the field of Complex Rehab Technology to me. I was introduced to it by people doing an excellent job at CRT already, and they, like Lorne Michaels, saw something in me and started.

We have all seen people present in interviews who may want to work with us, and it turns out they will not work for a multitude of different reasons.

How does one become good at this job? Caring for clients’ needs, knowing where to get the best answer for solutions. Profound knowledge is not just about knowing the answer but knowing where to find it — a willingness to learn, be taught and to seek out answers.

iNRRTS is one of the best ways to find those answers. It provides world-class education, speakers, topics and advocacy.

Our industry tends to have people who do the job for a long time, and we have for a long time not had a lot of younger or newer people join CRT. At current count, the average age of an iNRRTS Registrant is 50.8 years old. One exciting thing is that we currently have 37 applicants whose average age is 38 years old. This is a great trend and something I hope we can build on. How can we build on his? By mentoring people, helping technicians who are assisting us in our jobs and making sure our co-workers know about the iNRRTS website and how to find answers.

The CRT industry and those working in it are nothing to laugh at. It is a serious business with serious results that can have huge impacts on people’s lives. We all have looked at ourselves and said, “How did I get here?” To me, there is no definitive answer. Look for what someone may have. Mentor them and ensure we share the knowledge we have with others.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR

Jason may be reached at JASON@PHMOBILITY.COM

Jason Kelln, ATP, CRTS®, is president of iNRRTS and became the first Canadian iNRRTS Registrant in 2018. Kelln is the recipient of the Simon Margolis fellow award. Kelln serves on the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America’s Professional Standards Board and is an owner of PrairieHeart Mobility since 2022.